“I’m trying to convene people who care in a way that will help the folks who are being left out, because there’s a high percentage of our friends and neighbors who won’t make it.” says Hunter about her work in response to the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.
“This COVID-19 crisis is a crisis for many of us and for us as a society, but it’s also an opportunity because it gives us a chance, a very rare chance, to step back from our busy lives and reflect on where we want to be going as a society,” says Rose Jenkins Lane, spokesperson for Hendersonville-based nonprofit Conserving Carolina.
“I feel like right now this COVID virus is forcing people to slow down and, hopefully, look internally and not just at their phones,” says Percoco, the Firefly Gathering’s new executive director. “It’s interesting how something like this can come in and show us how vulnerable we are.”
“Sustainability is a vast field where you can get into agriculture, transportation, manufacturing and energy,” says Heath Moody, head of the Sustainability Technologies program at A-B Tech. “These skills are vital for society going forward.”
Classes take place on a hilly, wooded eco-homestead campus featuring Bogwalker’s self-constructed cabin, gardens and fruit trees, and students can choose to camp on the property for a full immersion into a more sustainable way of life. “We are permaculture in action, a living example of the beauty and abundance of the land,” she says.
Dogwood Health Trust expects to spend $10 million — 20 times the amount Buncombe County’s government has allocated so far — on efforts to stem the spread of COVID-19 and mitigate its impacts. Dogwood CEO shares his perspective on steps his organization and others are taking to protect Western North Carolina.
Writer Kiesa Kay provides an update on how people in Yancey County are managing to stay connected and well during the first weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Becky Beyer, an ethnobotanist, wild food enthusiast and cultural historian, will lead a workshop on Appalachian folk medicine Saturday, March 14, at the Black Mountain Library.
ASHEVILLE, N.C.
“The loss of life and damage caused by current global warming demonstrates that the Earth is already too hot for safety,” states the document approved by a 6-0 vote of Asheville City Council on Jan. 28. “Restoring a safe and stable climate requires an emergency climate mobilization on a scale not seen since World War II.”
For Victor Taylor of Appalachian Naturals and other Asheville-area makers of self-care products, simple and responsibly sourced ingredients are key to their businesses. They work to meet customer demand for goods that promote not just healthier skin, but also a healthier planet.
Despite WNC’s history of agricultural knowledge and abundance, the legacy of Jewish farming — and its deep wisdom surrounding food security, land ownership and community building — has remained shrouded in relative obscurity. The Fairview-based Yesod Farm + Kitchen is working to change that narrative.
ASHEVILLE, N.C.
For the first time, the Creation Care Alliance’s annual retreat, taking place at the Montreat Conference Center on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 7-8, will include both clergy and lay leaders. While the first day remains focused on ordained ministers , its second day will offer “learning, grieving, inspiration and training” for all who connect their faith with creation care.
ASHEVILLE, N.C.
Winter is the ideal time to begin planting and planning to create a hospitable wild bird habitat.
After months of haranguing City Council over the wording of a climate emergency resolution, over 40 protesters with Sunrise Movement Asheville occupied the government building on Dec. 6 to demand that Mayor Esther Manheimer and her colleagues pass the document as written by the climate justice group.
Queen and Doc recently relocated from an Amish community in Ohio to serve as the horsepower behind the college’s sustainable agriculture program.
Asheville City Council announced that it would consider on a resolution to declare a climate emergency during its upcoming meeting. But representatives from the Sunrise Movement feel that the vote is being pushed through without proper vetting from activists and city staff.
Climate Change and Asheville’s Urban Forest, a symposium organized by Asheville GreenWorks for Thursday, Nov. 14, 5-7:30 p.m., brings together a broad coalition around the results of the city’s recently released canopy study. Urban forest advocates emphasize that trees are critical to help Asheville avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
ASHEVILLE, N.C.
